It’s hard to search for American unity without confronting the nation’s bloodiest argument, especially if you are a New England yankee touring the Deep South.

Confederate Park in Memphis sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. At its center stands a statue of Jefferson Davis. Its inscription notes, in large letters, his service as president of the Confederate States of America. In smaller type, it notes his service in constitutional offices of the United States of America: Member of Congress, Senator, Secretary of War.

The inscription then sums it up this man in words that took my breath away: “A TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT”.

No. Anyone who violates his oath to defend the Constitution, who instead takes up arms against the constitutional government of the United States is a traitor, not a patriot.

There are still some, especially in the South, who equate secession with patriotism, and I just don’t get it. If you can’t abide America or its policies and want to move somewhere else, fine. But how can you say you love your country and still want to leave it?